I move that clause 2 in Bill C-300 be amended by adding after line 30 on page 2 the following:
(vii) providing suicide prevention guidelines for training, certification and accreditation for Canadians who work with Inuit, first nations, armed forces, and veterans.
These are all areas within federal jurisdiction, and for which the federal government has direct responsibility for service delivery.
Madam Chair, I move this amendment because we heard from witnesses, we have seen the data, and every piece of evidence tells us that Inuit have an eleven times greater suicide rate than any other group of Canadians; veterans and armed forces tend to come back with post-traumatic stress disorder, which results in a very high level of suicide, again higher than the normal population; and of course first nations have a seven times greater suicide rate.
These are all people who are completely within federal jurisdiction, for whom the federal government delivers services. Therefore the federal government, if it's going to establish a framework, should be establishing and providing suicide prevention guidelines for training, certification, and accreditation for people who work with these very high-risk groups.